Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1887-08-19

Aclilah lNaIuS To u perllOlS duty, ana their
prompt response to its call at the risk of life
itself
No race OF men ever trod this planet who
more than they revercd and respected RIGHT
full authority, divine and human, and il
was the rightncss and righteous exercise of
authority which commanded their respect
and allegiance. It's abuse they knew was
outside the functions of government and
therefore intolerabe.
The committee of the convention at
Westminster in III enunciate the princi-
pie thus: ~ henever protection was with
held by government no allegiance was due
or could of right be demanded -
The pioneers in this region were not unwil-
ling to submit to the colonial jurisdiction of
New York, but could not and never would
suffer unjust evictions of lands granted by
an officer of the crown and redeemed to
uses of civilization by years of patient toll
and hardship.
In common with other colousts. they
would have remained in willing allegiance
to the English government had the latter
respected and secured to them those natural
rights which are the gift of God and not of
governments.
These men saw clearly the true func-
| tons OF gOvern uent, and so gave new
meaning to the term patriotism. Love
| OF country is instructive and universal,
and men have died tor country in every
age, but in every age until the English
! revolution government and country have
J been convertible terms, and human his
! tory is NOT history of the people, but
almost to our time continuous record
! OF the fOllies and crimes and expressions
committed by kings and princes and no.
| hes.
| The great teacher and Savior of the race
/ la aI hn nil nd iii f,f to,
| dlvldual man, as man, 10 centuries ago ::
| but the grand truth was never recognized
! and formulated by any civil government
! until, more than 1900 years LATER the great
charter OF English liberty was wruug from
reluctant king. For centuries after
ward it was practically disregarded, but
the seed sown in mems hearts slowly ger
minated and grew and became the tree of
| liberty under which our fathers gathered
and which they watered with their blood.
Did time serve | might dwell upon the
personal characteristics of the men who
then dwelt in this region-of their mauly
fortitude in time of trial, of the wisdom
and moderation which marked their de-
llberatlous, of the courage with which
they confronted all adversaries, of their
respect for rightful authority and their
hatred of It's abuse. | might tell how they
braved the danger of the frontier forest
and subdued it to the uses of advancing
civilization, whose banner they bore
how civil order prevailed among them
While yet there was no organized
power, legislative, executive or Judi
cial, by which those functions could
be exercised, and yet such was the self
governing capacity of these pioneers, for
the most part plain farmers, that under
the most trying emergencies and without
any of the ordinary appliances which per-
tain 70 government in the maintenance of
private rights and public order, they held
both secure and at the same time without
stint gave of their scant means, and offer
ed themselves ready sacrifice in support
OF the common cause, of all which Ticon
deroga, Hubbardton, Bennington and
Saratoga Will stand as witnesses forever.
They were no carpet knigh $, nor plumed
cavaliers playing fantastic tricks of knight
errantry. They were grim fighters, and
they fought in their every day clothes
but as they stood on that long summer
day in deadly conflict with the hirelings
OF halt demented king, who madly flung
away the brightest jewel in his crown,
every brave heart beneath the yeoman's
! jacket beat with the Hottest Inspiration of
"a courage born of faith in God and in his
| less devotion to country. Every patriot
bullet was winged and instinct
with this inspiration. While love
of country famed in their hearts
that word, country, meant far more
to them than it did to the Greeks at
the people, secure in all natural rights
and all the social and civil free institu
tioDs essential to their preservation. They
scorned kingly and prestly and lordly
and every form of class privilege and pre-
rogative. They were living epistles of a
new faith. they were yeomen, they
were statesmen. They We're fit founders
OF new system of of government, SO well
epitomized by the immortal Lincoln as a
"Government of the people, for the people,
by the people" In this faith they lived
and for its triumphant establishment
they fought and conquered on yonder hill
side. The honor of their grand achieve
Inent is the glorious inheritance of the
three New England States represented
i here to-day, from whose valleys and hill
sides their patriotic sons, leaving wife and
child and quiet home and peaceful pur-
suits, so swiftly rallied at the call of
, country. The fruits Of their victory are
the common heritage Of the whole coun-
try for all time to come. Their heroic
example is for mankind The law of
the conservation of force prevails ia
the moral as in the physical world.
Nothing is losl. The heroic life or heroic
I death in just cause, though apparently
hopeless, will sometime bear rich harvest
In reconverSlon into successful heroic ac-
ton inspired by example. such was the
event and such the character OF the actors
therein, in revereGt memory OF which we
are met on this anniversary day to per-
form this initial ceremony. We begin now
| the erection of majestic and enduring
memorial which shall in some degree sym
bolize our conception of an event so
| fraught with great results, and wrought
too, by an ancestry whose heroic character
and achievement must forever challenge
our admiration and gratitude.
Let 1t rise majestic here, girt by these
grand mountains, commanding views of
unmatched natural beauty and overlook
ing the graves of the heroic dead. And 10
may it stand, a mute but eloquent witness
and memorial to all coming generations
of the battle of Il iniugton and of the
yalor and virtue o. the men who crowned
the day, whose anniversary we celebrate,
with glorious victory.
The benedlction was pronounced by
Rev. Isaac j. Jennings
| a tin box containing various records
etc, was placed in the cornerstone by the
grand treasurer of the grand lodge
Among the organizations present were
several military companies and Masonic
bodies from New York, New Hampshire
and Massachusetts. All the arrangements
were successfully carried out aud the en-